Abigail Breslin, who's struggled to confront a case of sexual assault publicly, has now moved to address the complexities of her rape and its aftermath after a fan criticized her for leaving the attack unreported.

Earlier in April, Breslin vaguely confirmed in an Instagram post that she was a sexual assault survivor with a photo that said "i knew my assailant." One follower chided the actress by observing "reported rapes are the only rapes that count," which inspired Breslin to share her story, and explain why she's kept it private.

“I did not report my rape. I didn’t report it because of many reasons,” she began. “First off, I was in complete shock and total denial. I didn’t want to view myself as a victim so I suppressed it and pretended it never happened.”

Breslin confirmed that she was in a relationship with her rapist and had concerns that no one would believe she'd been assaulted.

“I also feared that if my case didn’t lead anywhere, he would still find out and hurt me even more,” she said. "I knew how hurt my family and friends would be after finding out and I didn’t want to put them thru that.”

Breslin said she's still struggling to deal with the shock of the event, and urged her fans to be compassionate to those who've survived similar horrors. Criticizing victims, she said, is completely counterintuitive.

“It’s like [saying] you got a black eye from being punched in the face, but because you didn’t call the police, you didn’t really get a black eye,” she said. “I still jump when somebody touches me unexpectedly, even if it’s my best friend tapping me on the shoulder.”